Let Her Go
by Jennoist-OTP
Summary: After tragedy strikes, Will asks the Glee Club to reflect of the fragility of life. When choosing a song for the assignment, Ryder considers how he let go Marley Rose. Now without lyrics :( In loving memory of Cory Monteith


**Hello Gleeks. In light of the heart-breaking news we have recently received, I decided I needed to channel my sadness into something creative. I didn't feel I could write about too much Cory or Finn so I have therefore decided to fast track this idea I already had for a quite sad, short Ryley songfic, into reality, adding in a mention to our terrible loss. I hope you enjoy this, all comments are welcome. I don't own Glee, or the song. If you don't know it (I'm not sure if it's actually been released in America, I'm British) I would suggest typing 'Let Her Go' by Passenger into youtube to get the most out of the story.**

_**Let Her Go**_**, Lovingly dedicated to Cory Monteith 3**

**EDIT: Sadly, I have been asked to remove the lyrics from the story. It doesn't really work anymore and it's a bit crap, but rules are rules I guess :/**

Ryder looked around the choir room, at the devastated faces of his peers. In all honesty, he didn't know how they had all managed to come into school, especially those, such as Sam and Artie, amongst others, who had been classmates and friends. He was devastated enough without having known him this way, after all, if it wasn't for Finn Hudson, he wouldn't be sat in this room, in the Glee Club. He wouldn't have been the lead in the school musical. He would be sat in the locker room, hardly making the football team, with no friends or creative outlet to make up for his crappy grades and loneliness.

As his eyes scanned the room, he winced upon seeing Jake with his arms wrapped around Marley, caressing her gently, whispering words of comfort in her ear. _That should be me, _he thought. The worst thing of all was that they looked so happy together. He knew that his mom had told him he should never be bitter, but it was hard not to when all you could ever see was your best friend cradling the girl you were in love with. He was then distracted by Mr Schuester, who had just arrived at the New Direction's first meeting after the tragedy, putting his bag by the piano, breathing deeply, then solemnly starting to speak.

"Ok guys, this is not going to be easy. As you all know, Finn Hudson, one of our own, passed away at the weekend. I know we still don't know much about exactly what happened, but we do know this; Finn was immensely talented, a born leader, and, most importantly of all, a great friend, to you and to me. Now, we're all gonna need some time to grieve and to think of the perfect way for the New Directions to pay a fitting tribute, so we're not gonna jump into that straight away. So, in the meantime, this week, your assignment is going to be based off the biggest lesson Finn's death has taught us all; that life is too short."

"So," Sam started, "What exactly do you want us to sing, Mr Schue?"

"It's simple. Express yourselves, in whatever way you want. You can sing about Finn, you can sing about your future, sing about your regrets, your achievements, your friends, family...anything. I just want you to be able to truly express yourselves in the way Finn could when he was a student here. Finn is perhaps one of the biggest examples some of us have seen of how music can help us to stop bottling up what we're feeling and be true to ourselves and to each other."

Usually Ryder, and indeed half the room, would have rolled their eyes at the stereotypically sentimental nature of Mr Schuester's monologue, but today was different. All of the romanticism of Glee Club typically preached by the Glee Club teacher was necessary; Finn Hudson was gone, and the tragedy had proved Mr Shue right. So this time, Ryder and the rest of the students all nodded in earnest, and left for their next lessons, their brief lunchtime meeting over.

Later that evening, when the sun had gone down and his parents had gone to bed, Ryder collapsed onto the couch, put on his ipod, and set about choosing a song for the Glee assignment. He had thought about singing 'Juke Box Hero' in a throwback to the Grease (and indirectly, Glee Club) audition that his late hero had helped him with, but changed his mind, believing that one of the older New Directions members who had actually been Finn's school-friends would be able to pay him a better, more personal, tribute. He decided he would figure out what to sing about when he found an appropriate song, so clicked on shuffle.

'Let Her Go', by Passenger, started to play.

Ryder's eyes widened then closed, as a million memories of Marley Rose came flooding back. The two of them killing it at Grease. The kiss they shared before they went on stage. They would have been together. It would have been him comforting her in the choir room, instead of Jake. If only he hadn't cancelled their date…

He had ruined it, he thought to himself, closing his eyes and picturing her long, silky dark hair, her shy smile. But like everything else in his life, he had blown it, then been forced to watch her fall for Jake.

He shouldn't have cancelled on her. He gave up his opportunity to easily. And now she was gone. And she was even more perfect.

He guessed he had assumed she felt as intensely as he did for her. He had thought that kiss during Grease had sealed it. He had thought that if he took a risk and postponed their date for his dyslexia help, she would have willingly rescheduled because she liked him back. Obviously she hadn't liked him enough, because she quickly replaced him with his friend. She had come and gone in the blink of an eye.

Ryder sighed as the song played out. He had found his pick for Glee Club. It fit perfectly. He would sing about how he had loved and lost Marley Rose. How he had let her go.

Ryder sat up, determined to start practicing, despite the fact his family was asleep, sure of one thing; if there was even a slight chance that singing this song to Marley Rose would make her think about him again, he was going to try it. And if he ever had the opportunity to get her back, he would _not _let her go again.

**Thank you all for reading, sorry it was sad, but it had to be done! Please leave any comments, positive or negative- especially as this is my first songfic, so any constructive criticism/advice or indeed, compliments, would be extra specially welcome. Thank you! Also, a big Gleek hug from me at this terrible time xxx**


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